“No, no, it’s fine.” She pulled the prime rib from the oven and tented foil over it. “It needs to rest for an hour. If you can bear to stay in this house that long.”
“Mom, come on,” I said, feeling low. “That’s not fair. I’ll tell you what. I’ll fly you out to New York next week. I’ll spend a few days with you. Or next month. Whenever you want.”
“You know I can’t fly because of my allergies.” She shook her head at me and marched out of the kitchen.
Dad watched her walk out, then looked at the unattended food longingly. Love won out. With a sigh, he put his bourbon down. “I’ll go talk to her.”
Debbie got up to follow them. “I’ll give you guys a moment to sort your shit out,” she said to us.
Troy turned on me the moment we were alone. “Why do you have to upset Mom like that?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” I protested.
Chris, ever the peacemaker, said, “You didn’t do anything wrong, but it wouldn’t hurt for you to sugar-coat things a little. She misses you. Give her a break.”
“I’m here,” I said. “Thisisme giving her a break.”
“You couldn’t stay two days?” Chris asked.
“He’s too important now,” Troy said. “He’s not here to mingle with the locals and reminisce on high school days.”
“My schedule is packed,” I said. “This is what success looks like.”
“You know, speaking of high school, you know who else we saw at Tipsy’s?” Troy asked.
“Who?”
“Candy Cane Clara,” Chris said, grinning.
“Oh, fuck off. You two aren’t funny.” I took a long swig of bourbon, hoping to calm down.
“We’re not kidding,” Chris said. “Clara was there.”
“Yeah, don’t get mad at us,” Troy said. “It’s not our fault you popped a boner on stage in front of the whole town.”
“Traumatized that poor girl,” Chris said, shaking his head like he was sad.
“You bring this up every time we get together,” I growled.
“Because we barely see you,” Chris said. “And it’s an amazing story.”
“My pockets were full of candy canes,” I said through gritted teeth.
“And Nic told us that was bullshit,” Troy said.
Chris nodded. “We know what we saw. I still laugh when I think about it.”
“Yes,” I said. “We’ve all gotten a good laugh at it over the years, but it’s just pissing me off tonight. I’m stressed fromwork and I’m not nearly drunk enough to deal with you two chuckleheads. Let’s put a stop to this once and for all. How do we make that happen?”
Chris grimaced and glanced over at Troy. “That’s a big ask,” Chris said. “That’s our favorite story.”
Troy nodded. “Yeah, I genuinely believe it’s brought us all closer as a family.”
“Not me.”
“Not everything is about you.”
“Whatever, how much would it take to get you to stop?” I looked back and forth between my brothers. “Name your price.”
